camp nin, day 1

One of the best parts about living in Missouri is that we're middle-ish ground between the two states in which my sister lives, which means that we make the prime spot for all the kiddos and their mamas to gather for a week in the summer. 

This year, to liven things up a little, we hosted Camp Nin at the farm. 

And lest you wonder where the name "Nin" came from, it's a variation of "Ninny," which is a variation of "Adriane." It's a long story. 

My sisters and all their kids arrived around supper time, so once we'd stuffed ourselves with hamburgers, hot dogs, watermelon and lemonade, we sat everybody down for camp orientation. 

I've never been to camp, but it seems like that would be a thing. 

Once we outlined the camp rules--1. Pitch a tent, not a fit. 2. To quote our dad, "Enjoy the moment!" and so on--the kids were each assigned a camp counselor, a cabin to stay in (ok, so it was a bedroom basement) and given camp swag bags that included . . . 

Official Camp Nin t-shirts, OF COURSE. As well as . . . 

journals, because part of camp is documenting all the fun things you got to do while there, amIright?

Then the campers and their counselors got together to fill out top secret forms that required them to do one nice thing for a different person each day of camp without the other person knowing it. 

Suffice it to say, there were a lot of sweet notes left in people's bags, other people's beds made, etc. throughout the week. 

Some of the campers needed a little extra help from their counselor (read: Grandma). That whole not-being-able-to-write thing and all. 

And then, because morning comes early at camp, the campers hightailed it off to their cabins and bunks to prepare for day 2 of Camp Nin. 

And one in particular reminded us that there is such a thing as a happy camper, because really, is there any other kind?

Stay tuned for day 2 of Camp Nin . . .